Astros Split Season Opening Doubleheader
The Astros played two tight, well played games against a tough Franklin Square Colts team to open their 2009 NJBL Spring season, winning the opener 3-1 before falling in the nightcap 4-1.
In the first game, the Astros fell behind 1-0 after the top of the first, tied it up in the bottom half, and then put up two more in the second to account for all of the scoring. It was enough, as Teddy and Zach put up three solid innings apiece to lead the way to victory. It was a tight game throughout with some solid defensive play by the 'Stros which reflected their off-season work, highlighted by two relay plays from Chris in leftfield to Austin at short to Jared/Johnny at second base, ending both the 1st and 4th innings by gunning down opposing runners trying to stretch singles into doubles. The bats were a little quiet, with only three hits, but the big one was a 2-out, 2 RBI single by Johny to put the home team ahead for good.
In the second game, The Colts jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first and the Astros struggled all game to catch up, managing one run in the 4th before the Colts plated an insurance run in the fifth to close out the scoring. The Astros had baserunners in almost every inning and managed six hits to go with a couple bases on balls and a hit batsmen, but the only run we could manage was when Jared knocked an RBI single to rightfield to score teddy, who had doubled a couple batters earlier. frankie and Steven provided strong pitching but the squad came up just short.
Our next scheduled doubleheader was rained out and is to be rescheduled. Up next is a home doubleheader this Sunday against the Long Island Baymen Sharks, followed by (insert Coach Mike T's voice here)...CAAAAAAAAAL RIPKEN!!!
Player Profiles - Austin May 27, 2008 --
Bats - left
Throws - right
Position - SS
Uniform # - 24
Nickname - Vacuum
Austin is a smooth fielding vacuum who can make all the plays at shortstop and specializes in the take-it-to-second-yourself-and-onto-first-for-two. His strong arm allows him to play a deep shortstop, and he adds a mean lefty bat to the Astros lineup.
Bats - right
Throws - right
Positions - OF, some IF
Uniform # - 5
Nickname - Cobra
Chris is a sweet-swinging outfielder who usually occupies the 5- or 6-spot in the order. He has also begun to provide some backup support at the infield positions. Chris has a solid stroke and can hit for power when he connects.
Bats - right
Throws - right
Positions - P, 1B, 3B
Uniform # - 10
Nickname - Shotgun
Astros fans remember Frankie well when he used to line up in the opposite dugout as a flamethrowing pitcher and a very tough out at the plate. The squad is relieved to welcome him into our dugout this season, where he is being counted on to be another frontline starting pitcher and an intimidating presence in the middle of the batting order.
Player Profiles - Greg May 27, 2008 --
Bats - right
Throws - right
Positions - OF, P
Uniform # - 18
Nickname - Goggles
Greg is hard-throwing righty who can burn rubber around the basepaths and who always seems to save his best at-bats for pressure situations with two outs and men on base. He covers alot of ground from centerfield and adds another fast arm to our pitching staff.
Player Profile - Jared May 27, 2008 --
Bats - right
Throws - right
Positions - 2B, P
Uniform # - 58
Nickname - Lightning
Jared is a hard-hitting second baseman who specializes in hitting line drives and hitting them hard. He has also developed himself into a strong pitcher for the team, specializing in shutting down the opposition in late inning, high pressure situations.
Player Profile - Johnny May 27, 2008 --
Bats - right
Throws - right
Positions - 2B, OF
Uniform # - 13
Nickname - 615
Johnny wields a fast bat and has wheels to spare on the basepaths. He's a great top-of-the-order hitter - high on-base percentage and almost always makes contact. He excelled in the 2008 Memorial Day Tournament, hitting a staggering .615 over five games, which gave him his nickname.
Player Profile - Ricky May 27, 2008 --
Bats - left
Throws - right
Position - C
Uniform # - 68
Nicknames - Pudge, Twinkle Toes
Ricky is an excellent catcher, showing the kind of soft hands behind the plate that would make his idol Jaromir Jagr jealous. He blocks everything back there and loves to show off his gun with snap throws behind the runner at first base, and he also wields a dangerous lefty bat in our lineup.
Player Profiles - Ryan May 27, 2008 --
Bats - right
Throws - right
Positions - C, P
Uniform # - 15
Nickname - Beef
Ryan is a hard-hitting catcher with one of the strongest arms on the entire team. When called upon to pitch, he throws bullets that very few hitters can catch up with. He has an eagle eye at the plate and makes opposing pitchers pay for their mistakes with a power-packed swing.
Player Profiles - Steven May 27, 2008 --
Bats - right
Throws - right
Positions - P, 3B
Uniform # - 44
Nickname - Bones
Steve is a right-handed flamethrower on the hill, a smooth-fielding third baseman, and a line drive hitter who is a terror on the basepaths. He came through HUGE in the 2008 Memorial Day Tournament, winning his only start and turning in two critical relief appearances, one to secure our spot in the championship game and another to save that championship game.
Player Profile - Teddy May 27, 2008 --
Bats - right
Throws - right
Positions - mostly P, 1B
Uniform # - 41
Nickname - Captain Crush
Teddy is a hard-hitting, hard-throwing right hander who anchors the middle of the Astros lineup and is also a front of the rotation starting pitcher for the team. He's also a great vocal leader in the dugout.
Player Profiles - Vito May 27, 2008 --
Bats - left
Throws - left
Positions - OF, P
Uniform # - 57
Nickname - Mosquito
Vito is a speedster with a great outfield glove - he covers a ton of ground in the outfield and has a strong arm to boot. He has a sweet inside-out swing that allows him to hit the ball the other way and take advantage of his speed getting down the first base line. Vito also adds to our pitching depth as the only lefty pitcher on our staff.
Bats - right
Throws - right
Positions - OF, P
Uniform # - 45
Nickname - Alphabet
Zach is a strong-armed pitcher who also plays outfield and thrid base as well. He is an excellent centerfielder with good range and a gun attached to his right shoulder, and a solid hitter who can send the ball a long way. He also has shown tremendous heart throughout his Astros career, most notably at Ripken 2008 when he pitched himself into an asthma attack and refused to come out of the game.
Coaching Profile - Coach David May 27, 2008 --
Head Coach
Uniform # - 17
David is the founder, manager, and driving force behind this Astros' squad. He works tirelessly to help the boys hone their skills, and along with the rest of the coaching staff deserves alot of the credit (and gratitude) for the tremendous improvement the boys have made from 2007 to 2008. He makes tremendous sacrifices each and every day for this squad.
In his free time, David enjoys Trivial Pursuit, Italian art exhibits, and long walks on the beach with a good Truman Capote novel. He sometimes puts himself to sleep by chanting the word "Focus" over and over and over again.
Coach Frank joins the Astros in 2009 and adds another savvy baseball mind to our dugout. He worked diligently throughout the offseason with the team members on their skills, with a special focus on the pitching staff. He has a keen baseball eye which enables him to detect and correct mechanical errors before they become habits for our boys, and also gives us a strategic edge due to his ability to sniff out and capitalize on our opponents' weaknesses.
Coaching Profile - Coach Mike D May 27, 2008 --
Assistant Coach
Uniform # - 29
Mike D. has been David's right hand man from the get-go and is forever seeking out way to improve the Astros - finding the best leagues and tournaments, scouring the Internet for better practice drills, and interrogating opposing coaches to find better ways to raise money and improve the Astros experience for our boys. The boys (and all of us) are lucky to have him.
When away from the baseball field (about ten to fifteen minutes on an average day), Mike enjoys Liberace, hacky-sack, and making those things where you pour different color sand into a bottle. He once walked to the deli and back...on his hands.
Coaching Profile - Coach Mike T May 27, 2008 --
Assistant Coach
Uniform # - 24
Although always a team presence in past seasons, Mike T. officially joined the staff this past offseason and has had an immediate impact in terms of improving the quality of practices and of the team's performance during games. He has a great rapport with the kids and has a great touch in the way he communicates with them - it's obvious the boys really enjoy playing for him as well as his cheerleading ("Baseball HEAVEN", "Caaaaaaaaaaal RIPKEN", and so on).
Mike's free time is almost all taken up by his world-class thimble collection. He also enjoys a good Shepherd's Pie and once had a fine head of hair.
ASTROS GO TO 3-2 WITH 10-0 NO HIT WIN OVER THE EAGLES July 10, 2008 --
The Astros ran their record above .500 for the summer season by defeating the Eagles 10-0, behind a great pitching performance by Steven. Steven went 5-1/3 innings and did not allow a hit, getting 12 of his 16 putouts by strikeout. Jared came in to get the last two outs and complete the no-no.
Offensively, the Astros managed fifteen hits. They threatened every inning, but the score was still 0-0 after four as we left the bases loaded twice without pushing one across. The wind was blowing in and a number of well-hit balls hung up long enough for opposing outfielders to snag. The Astros finally broke through with two in the fifth, both driven in by Ryan's triple (not a typo), one of three hits on the game for Beef. The Astros then erupted for eight more in their final at bat to blow the game open - Austin and Ricky had 2 RBIs apiece in that rally.
TOURNAMENT WRAP UP May 28, 2008 --
Things I learned this weekend:
1. 10-year old boys do not know how to distinguish between comments made in jest and actual real promises (and I have the haircut to prove it), and
2. ASTROS ROCK!!!
Just a great weekend of baseball, and the best thing about it was that every single player on the roster contributed, in a big way in every single case, to a true team accomplishment. It was a pleasure and a privilege to watch it and enjoy it. I’m still flying high over this tournament championship, I’m sure everyone else is too. Congratulations to all the players and also to the coaches, you guys really deserve this one.
I’ll go through what I saw as some of the highlights here – if you want to read individual game summaries, click on game results in the left margin. Then you have to go to the two drop down menus at the top of the page and adjust them to Division – NJBL Memorial Day Tournament, and Team – Long Island Astros. Individual game results will hopefully be up by end of Wednesday/early Thursday. Also check out the new Player and Coach Profiles (links to the right on this home page) when you get a chance, feel free to let me know if you want any changes to any of this stuff (if you prefer a different picture, or if you have different verbiage, anything at all, don’t be shy).
Tournament Highlights (one man’s view, please forgive any oversights)
· Offense - Astros hit the heck out of the ball all weekend, with a team batting average of, get this, .380 for the five games. That’s swinging the bats! Johnny led the charge with a jaw-dropping .615 average for the weekend (8-for-13). Danny swung a big bat, batting .500 for the tournament – 4 of his 7 hits were doubles, he led the team with 8 RBIs, and he and Johnny led the team with 7 runs scored apiece. Chris had 7 RBIs and hit .500, as did Greg (with 5 RBIs) and Austin, who had a triple among his 6 hits. Doug settled nicely into the leadoff spot, going 4-for-10 on the weekend with 2 doubles, and that was despite some tough luck as he had several hard line drives that went directly into the centerfielder’s mitt. A lot of clutch two-out hits also – the ones I remember are Zach’s laser double to open the scoring in game 1, and Greg doing it twice with 2-RBI singles against the Cardinals and again in the championship game, both with two out.
· Pitching – some very gutty pitching performances this weekend. Steve went 4 innings as our game 1 starter, then came in with a huge 18-pitch performance on Sunday to hold down the fort and secure a tie with the Greendogs, and then came out one more time to shut the door on the championship game victory. Teddy threw 5-1/3 tough innings on Saturday, then came back and started the championship game and gutted out three shutout innings to give the Astros a lead they never relinquished. Vito was thrown into the fire for his 2008 pitching debut, throwing a scoreless fourth inning in the championship game, including getting the final batter on a weak groundout to third with the bases loaded – huge out right there. And Jared continues to develop into yet another pitching arm for the Astros, with a solid save outing against a tough Ronkonkoma Cardinals squad on Saturday.
· Defense – nothing fires up a team, or demoralizes the opponent, more than getting an out at home plate – Ricky and Ryan stood tall this weekend as we managed no less than 5 putouts at home plate. 2 were on forceouts at home, Chris threw out a runner at the plate from leftfield, and we had 2 beautifully executed Zach-to-Teddy-to-Ricky relay plays to nail a runner at the plate (could you have imagined that happening a year ago?). There were too many other defensive gems to list them all, but the ones I remember were Vito coming from out of nowhere to make a catch in shallow right centerfield when we needed an out in the worst way against the Eagles, Austin starting yet another inning-ending double play, and Zach playing an almost flawless centerfield all weekend long.
· Gotta’ mention that crazy game against the Greendogs on Sunday afternoon – needing a tie to advance, we blew a 5-0 lead by giving up six runs in the top of the fifth. But down 7-6 at that point, Ryan got us going with a frozen rope single of Farmingdale’s ace, and then Doug (single), Johnny (single) and Danny (double) followed suit, before Teddy came up with just a great at bat, fouling off four or five pitches before hitting a triple to clear the bases and drive their best pitcher out of the game. We knocked the next guy around a little bit too, and took a 13-7 lead into the final frame. Farmingdale roared back with 6 runs of their own to tie it before Steve came in and shut them down (including the play he made on the line drive off his ribs), and we got the tie we needed.
Great weekend all around, congrats again to all the Astros, just a great display you guys put on out there this weekend, we’ll remember this one for a long time.
ASTROS WIN MEMORIAL DAY TOURNAMENT!!! May 26, 2008 --
So when I got home this afternoon, and was trying feebly to explain to Casi why I suddenly bear a striking resemblance to Curious George, all I could say was "Honey, I had no idea these kids were this good!"
Wow! What a performance by the Astros, from top to bottom, from A(ustin) to Z(achary), from #2 to #68. What a great weekend of team baseball. Mad props out to all of the players and to the coaching staff, it's very rewarding to see an entire winter of hard work pay off like this.
Much more to come later, maybe by Wednesday alot of games to summarize and alot of photos to sift through - congratulations to all of you, you guys all have alot to be proud of for the way you played and conducted yourselves this weekend. Makes all of us proud to be part of the Astros family, keep up the good work fellas!!!
ASTROS CONTINUE TO ROLL, SWEEP YANKEES TO GO TO 11-1 June 3, 2008 --
The Astros remained hot with a doubleheader sweep on the road on Sunday against the Massapequa Yankees, bringing their Spring season record to 11-1. The 'Stros have 2 more games remaining in the Spring season and need to win at least one of them to take home the division title (no playoffs in the Spring season).
The Astros won the opener 14-7 behind a 15-hit attack, led by Teddy who had 3 hits including a homerun, along with 3 RBIs. Greg, Ricky and Doug added two hits apiece. Vito had a big game also, reaching base in all four of his plate appearances with three walks and a single, scoring twice and knocking in 2 runs, and throwing out a baserunner at second base from rightfield. Steve did not have his best stuff but showed alot of poise and gutted it out through 4+ innings, and then Zach came in to finish the fifth and pitch a scoreless sixth inning to put a wrap on the first one.
The second game was a closer, low-scoring affair which the Astros won 6-2. Teddy had a dominating performance on the mound, pitching 5 innings of 3-hit ball with 9 strikeouts. Danny finished it off wth a scoreless sixth inning, aided by Ricky who threw out a would-be base stealer at second base to end the game. The boys had 10 hits in this game, paced by two apiece from Greg (4 hits total on the afternoon), Johnny and Jared.
Our final doubleheader is on the road again, June 8 in Rockville Centre versus the LI Mud Dogs. The Mud Dogs come into the doubleheader at 7-3 and having won their last five league games, so the boys will have to bring their "A" games one more time to finish off what has been a spectacular season.
ASTROS GO TO 9-1 WITH DOUBLEHEADER SWEEP! May 19, 2008 --
Dave Orland's Long Island Astros went to 9-1 in NJBL play this past weekend with a sweep of the rival Astros White club of Joe Migliore. Final scores were 11-4 and 5-4.
In the opener, our opponents jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but after that Steve settled down, only allowing one more run in his five innings of work. The Astro bats woke up in the third as they exploded for eight runs on 6 hits in that inning - Doug led off with a single, and each of the next three batters reached base as well, at which point the bases were loaded and the score was 3-1. Steve grounded out into a fielder's choice, as they got Austin on a force play at the plate, and then Greg followed with a RBI fielder's choice of his own, making it 3-2, but with two outs. After Vito walked to load them up again, the next three batters (Danny, Teddy and Chris) each hit a two-out RBI single, and then Jared's 2 RBI knock closed the scoring for the frame. In all, the Astros sent 12 batters to the plate in what turned out to be the decisive inning of this game. The Astros added two more in the 4th on RBI groundouts by Zach and Ryan, and then one more in the 5th when Teddy hit an absolute rocket over the head of the opposing leftfielder. Steve went five innings, and then Doug shut the door with a 9-pitch sixth inning, all strikes.
Migs' Astros took an early lead in the second game as well, scoring one in the top of the first on an error. Our Astros got it back in the second, with Teddy making a nice hustle play and scoring from second on an infield groundout. We added single runs in the third on an RBI groundout from Greg and in the fourth on a couple of errors, but then lost the lead when they scored 3 in the 4th, aided by a couple misplays in the field by our nine. But the boys came back again with two in the bottom of the fifth, as Austin stole home on a wild pitch and then Ryan came home on an error by the opposing shortstop. Teddy pitched five strong innings, allowing only four hits, and then Danny pitched a 7-pitch sixth inning for the save, highlighted by a game-ending double play on a grounder to Austin at short.
Other highlights:
-the team turned three double plays on the afternoon, including two step-on-second-and-throw-it-to-first double plays initiated by Austin, and one unassisted double play at first base by Teddy. The defensive play of the day was probably the play in the 4th inning of the first game, when Greg fielded a single in RF, got it quickly to Teddy at the cutoff, and he relayed it home to Ricky to get their guy at the plate and end the inning. Great scoop by Ricky and he held on and made the tag;
-we had 11 hits in the first game, but only four in the second as Migs' squad threw a tough righthander to start the nightcap. Teddy and Chris led the hit parade with three hits apiece on the afternoon, and Doug, Ryan, Austin and Jared each also had multi-hit afternoons;
-we had four batters hit by pitches on the day - Chris and Steve once each, and Vito twice. Duck next time Vito!
-fan turnout was excellent on the day, maybe our best of the season to date...and the place was still buzzing about Teddy's homerun a couple of hours later, that ball woulda' cleared the fence at Herricks Ballfield with plenty of room to spare, and most agree it would have cleared the fence at the Ripken fields as well.
-UPCOMING - schedules for the Memorial Day Tournament have been posted - we play the Happaugue Eagles at 1:30 Saturday, followed by a 3:45 contest against the Ronkonkoma Cardinals. On Sunday, we play at 3:15PM against the SYAG Braves and at 5:30 against the Farmingdale Greendogs, and then hopefully we will play again Monday in the playoffs. Practices this week are Tuesday, 6PM at Denton Avenue, and Friday 6PM at Center Street.
-in a remarkable gesture, coaches Dave and Mike T. have both promised that if the boys win the Memorial Day Tournament, they will each shave their heads. Coach Mike D. was going to do the same thing, but really, what's the point?
ASTROS PHOTOGRAPHER GETS NEW EQUIPMENT! June 10, 2008 --
Astros Team Photographer Big Tan (not Big Brown) had a big weekend - just twelve or so hours after his near namesake had blown his chance for immortality at Belmont Park, Astros Team Photographer Big Tan (not Big Brown) was seen at Herricks Ballfield, outfitted with the finest and latest in digital photography equipment, and with a lens that extended from the bleacher seats almost out to second base. Seen below is a two-photo series taken by Astros Team Photographer Big Tan (not Big Brown with this very same equipment - this is the play in the first game where Austin slid home safely ahead of the throw, which then came and plunked him in the ribs. Hate to make Austin relive that pain, but we wanted to show off the abilities of the new equipment now being used by Astros Team Photographer Big Tan (not Big Brown).
More to come later in the week on this weekend's doubleheader, where the Astros clinched the NJBL Spring season title. Very busy so far this week, but I'll look to get something up here tomorrow (Wednesday).
And...a belated Happy Birthday to Astros Team Photographer Big Tan (not Big Brown).
ASTROS WIN DIVISION TITLE WITH SWEEP OF MUD DOGS June 13, 2008 --
The Astros remained as hot as the weather this past Sunday, sweeping the Mud Dogs in 90+ degree heat. The victories gave the 'Stros 9 straight wins to end the spring season, and more importantly gave the boys the division title with a sparkling 13-1 record in NJBL league play. Congratulations to all the boys and coaches for just a great great season.
In the first game, the Astros got on the board with 4 in the second inning, and that's all they would need as Steven and Danny threw three shutout innings apiece. The Astros added 5 more in the fifth for good measure to account for the final score of 9-0.
The second game was a closer affair - Teddy threw five innings, allowing only two runs in the fifth, and we went into the final frame with a lead of 7-2. But the Mud Dogs put up four in the sixth to close to within 7-6 with only one out when Jared was brought in to put out the fire. After a run scoring single that also left the bases loaded, the next batter hit a grounder to Danny at first, who went home for a force out. The final batter hit a grounder to short and Austin ate it up and got the putout at first to end it.
The Astros had 9 hits in the opener and 13 in the second game, so there were plenty of offensive stars - Ryan led the charge as he was raking it all day, with two doubles, a single, and a walk in four plate appearances, and he also had 5 RBIs on the day. Teddy had four hits in the doubleheader, including two doubles, and there were several other players with multi-hit afternoons.
Special props to Vito, who showed alot of guts by returning from a hospital visit to finish out game 2 in leftfield, showing the kind of toughness that all of the boys have exhibited all season. And more special props to Mr. and Mrs. Vito, who welcomed us into their home for a great season-ending pool party. Thanks again for your generous hospitality.
The boys have a well-deserved week off this week before returning to practice next week, and the NJBL summer season will begin anytime after Monday, June 23. There is a link to the NJBL site in the left margin here - as of this morning (Friday), summer schedules for 10 and under were not yet posted, but they should be up shortly.
ASTROS SWEPT IN SEASON OPENING DOUBLEHEADER
The Astros got their first taste of upper division play this past weekend against a tough Ronkonkoma Cardinals squad, and it tasted a little like my mother's meatloaf...which is to say, not very good, but it starts to go down easier after a couple cold ones.
Cards got two in the top of the first in the opener, but the Astros fought back and went up 4-2 afer three. Cardinals rallied for three in the fourth to take a 5-4 lead, which they then stretched to 7-4 going into our last at bat. The Astros managed a walk and two hits to put one across and threaten, but were unable to make up the deficit and took a tough 7-5 loss in an exciting game.
The second game was slightly less exciting, as the Astros were victimized by one bad call after another by the umpire in an 11-0 loss. One call here or there and this game could easily have been 11-1 or even 11-2.
Offensively, the bats were a little slow coming off a two-week layoff, with only 10 hits across the two games - Johnny and Austin swung the lumber well, managing three hits apiece in the doubleheader. The pitching highlights were Zach's solid 3+ innings of relief work in game 2, and a 2-pitch outing by Jared in the frist game where he came in with the bases loaded and got the last out on a weak grounder to third.
Hats off to the Cardinals, who fought back in game 1 and showed some toughness in winning that one, and then put forth a very solid all-around game in the nightcap.
One awkward moment during game 2 when the opposing manager shamelessly attempted to solicit the services of our team photographer, but I'm proud to say that Big Tan never wavered.
It's a long season and we've no doubt the boys will bounce back from this one as they have all year.
CATCHING UP August 12, 2008 --
Apologies to all, been very busy at work and have not done a good job of keeping up on the web site. My Company just completed the acquisition of Newsday, so I'd better hone my journalism skills, I've missed way too many deadlines.
Since we last checked in on our caped crusaders, they completed the summer season with a record of 6-10. The level of competition was a big step up from the Spring season, and the Astros showed they can play with any one of these teams. The season was highlighted by some good wins against tough opponents, most notably a 10-3 victory over the Greendogs, who finished at 9-7, and the final game of the season, a win over the bandits who finished at 12-4. We also had 5 games where we lost by 2 runs or less, so the Astros were very close to being in the upper half of the league;s standings but for a few plays here and there.
If you click on the Game Results link in the left hand banner and then change the drop down menus to NJBL Summer season and LI Astros, you can find brief game summaries for each game in the summer season. Nothing up yet for the last three games, but they will be posted shortly.
Two practices this week, tonight (Tuesday) and Thursday, both at Center Street, and then the Ed Rall Tournament this weekend. After that it's on to the Fall season, where the boys will play at 11-and-under with 75-foot bases and 51-foot pitching in preparation for next Spring.
ASTROS SWEEP HAWKS, EVEN RECORD AT 2-2 July 3, 2008 --
They say pitching and defense wins games, and that was certainly the case last Sunday, as the Astros swept the Huntington Hawks in two very well-played, tight games to even their summer record at 2-2. The 'Stros were outhit by a margin of 12 to 9 in the doubleheader, but our hits were a little more timely and the boys did hit for power when they connected, and that was enough to win both games due to some stellar pitching performances.
We won the opener in a nailbiter, 1-0. Steve and Zach combined for a 5-hit shutout, pitching out of trouble time and again as the Hawks had at least one baserunner every inning. The Astros managed only 3 hits on the game, but one of them was an RBI triple from Teddy in the fourth inning, and that was enough for the win.
In the second game, the Astros came out and scored three in the first inning, highlighted by Danny's over-the-fence homerun at Herricks Ballfield, our first one this season. Danny's double in the third led to another run, and we were up 4-1 after three. But the Hawks fought back with two in the fifth to draw within a run before Danny came in to finish off just a monster game from him by pitching the last 1-1/3 innings for the save, getting all four of his outs by strikeout. Danny and Teddy combined for an impressive power pitching performance, striking out 11 in their combined six innings of work.
An excellent afternoon for the Astros as they evened their summer record at 2-2 and gave themselves something to build off of going into the July 4 tournament weekend.
